Are the dev for onedrive for mac stupid？

[HenryHuang]

I was so disappointed about this product that I registered this account and posted it here. This is my first post, and I'd like to say that If my company didn't need to use this software, I would never use it by myself. 

Ok, now let me describe the problem。 

When you first log in on a MAC, all files need sync to the local machine, then you can modify the setting to select which folder you need sync, which you do not need sync.  

If you have huge data in onedrive,  it will be stuck there. keep updating, keep sync. 99% will fail. 

I just want sync a folder to this MAC machine, why this is so hard? Are you really use this product in your daily work?   

The easy way to solve this is to allow the user to modify the sync setting when the sync suspended.  

OR the following workflow. 

1. install software. 
2.  log in to account, read all data （maybe only folder structure）in the cloud. 
3. select which folders you would like to sync. 
4. select how to treat your data - download them all, or just keep them on the cloud. 
5. Confirm and then sync all data you selected.  

Hope someone can read this post.   I don't hold out much hope because I know how quickly big companies respond to customer feedback.  I just wanted to vent my anger that I've been syncing for 10 days and my data still hasn't been synced to my Mac.  

This is not one guy's request,  I can see this on a lot of Chinese forum and English forum.  

I am 

[#2]

@HenryHuang  It would help if you came to the forum without a list of personal grievances based on complete misconceptions, AND provided some useful information (standard on support forums) such as your MacOS version.  

These forums are also supported by other users. If you want Microsoft tech support then it's not hard to find out how to contact them.

Please go and do some training and read-up on OneDrive usage, particularly around selective sync. If you want files on demand, make sure your MacOS version is sufficiently up to date.  There are also plenty of troubleshooter pages out there which you can step through. If they fail, and you don't want to call Microsoft, then come back and detail what you've tried, and some useful information about your system that volunteers can make sense of.

[#3]

Hi, @Mike Williams 

Thank you for your reply.  

I use this product for about 5 or 6 years.  I have both windows machines (Cloud and physical) and a Mac machine.  I set the sync between those machines. One machine as the main server, keep all files on that, and other machines only sync a few folders as I need different files in different machines.  In my main server, There are 502GB data in my business account, 195,614 files in it. 

Trust me, I do not need training on how to set sync.   

MacOS: 10.15.6. 

OneDrive:  20.084.0426.0007 

Both business and personal onedrive keep sync status, but no files can be truly synced. 

First, I am thinking it's the Chinese Great firewall block the sync,  I tried SG / US VPN, still the same result,  after 2 days waiting, I realize that will never work. 

Then I checked the articles to troubleshooting the issue. 

Uninstall/reinstall.

Reset Onedrive. 

File On-demand is the key here. Onedrive set it as default and start sync immediately when you first log in. Onedrive will read / sync all files name to your local machines, only the file name, but not download it.

If there are 1,000 files, it's OK,  read the folder structure and file name is an easy job. But if there are a huge number of files, for example, 1,000,000,  read the filename will get stuck.  And you can not change the sync setting (unselect those folders you do not want sync now),  because the sync process is not finished, an endless loop. 

That's why I would like to ask MS that please Let the user select sync folder, select File on Demand or not, then start the sync.  If they can do that, I must take my hat off to them. 

[#4]

@HenryHuang If you're going to try to sync 1000000 files then you're running at 3x the suggested limits documented by Microsoft: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/invalid-file-names-and-file-types-in-onedrive-and-sharepo...

Essentially with OneDrive you're in a single SharePoint doclib. If you have content that you don't need to keep offline, I would suggest using SharePoint and spreading your file load across multiple doclibs to minimise sync queue overhead.

Your network situation can also be part of the problem. I've found that syncing of OneDrive and DropBox can really suffer when running through a VPN even if the underlying network is fast. Individual users' combination of local machine and network ability differ wildly across the world, so Microsoft's limits need to be read against that. I'm syncing quite a lot more than you are bitwise across all my Cloud accounts, but not so many files. Large numbers of little files are a real killer in many network situations even transmitting one way. However as soon as you introduce sync then you're not only transmitting files, but having to check whether any of the files you've already transmitted have already changed on either side.

If you want to have a discussion about algorithms for monitoring a million files then go for a thread like https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/onedrive-for-business/onedrive-for-business-file-limits/m-p/5... which is more useful than starting one called "Are the dev for onedrive for mac stupid?"

[#5]

@Mike Williams 

Thanks again. 

First I apologize for the title I used in the first place. It was not the real me. It was a person who wasted 5 days to test and was blinded by anger. 

1,000,000 files just a just an inflated number.  I also have a personal account with only 25,575 files, about 30GB, this is definitely within Microsoft's recommendations.  This account also has the same issue.  

Network connection and small size files should be the factor. However, I use the remote cloud machine which is located in the US to avoid the impact of network connection speed and VPN, a little bit better, but not good enough. 

I could not control the file size. 

Most files are needed sync, just need to sync to the different machines.  I usually modify the data on one machine, then sync to others，sometimes，opposite. 

The root of this problem is that Onedriver opens the file on-Demand by default. as soon as logs in, sync all files will start, but it gets stuck there.  And users can do nothing on it.  

For me,  add the account to a new machine, that's a nightmare.  Alway stuck there. 

I have a workaround, which I feel very stupid. 

1. on my main machine, move all folders from onedrive folders. (Same machine, same driver, should be quick. )
2. One driver will delete everything on every machine. 
3. Add the account to a new machine, sync, then close files on-demand, only select one folder or one file. 
4. Then move all folders back on the main machine. 
5. on each machine, change the setting, select sync folders. 

I “created” hundreds of gigabytes of Internet traffic.

If the product manager can let the user select the sync folder first, the data transferred will be reduced and the chance of getting stuck will be reduced.   

I may delete this post soon. 

Thanks. 

[#6]

@HenryHuang FWIW I agree that there are many deficiencies in the OneDrive setup. I would also like to lock out certain folders from being synced when OneDrive is setup.

I recommend that you add your support to UserVoice tickets like this: https://onedrive.uservoice.com/forums/913525-onedrive-on-mac/suggestions/40188952-bring-the-choose-f...